CHAPTER 6

As the hour grew late Loki finally drifted off to sleep, but Saffron stayed awake. Her thoughts would not let her rest, so she stood at the window looking down at the castle gardens. She heard the chamber door quietly open.

"Lady Saffron," she heard, "it is I, Thor, Loki's brother."

She smiled as he walked in.

"I have brought food and wine," he said, and she nodded her thanks as he placed the tray on a small table. He walked over to stand beside her at the window. "May I ask you something?" he rumbled gently.

Saffron nodded, but did not speak.

"How is it that you, the goddess of fire from a different realm, know Isis, my brother's mate?" Thor stood quietly beside her, and his voice was gentle, but probing. He had changed out of his armor, she noticed, and was now clad in soft black robes, trimmed in red.

Saffron took a deep breath.

"When the Jotun took Isis and hid her on Midgard, the moon goddess Diana, Isis' mother, came to my father and asked if he would send his strongest and bravest warrior to keep her safe. My father told her he could do better than that: he would send the daughter they had had together: me."

Thor touched her on the arm. "You are a sister to Isis?"

Saffron nodded. "Yes. We are half-sisters. Ra' and Diana had a...thing...a few millennia ago. I was the result," she shrugged.

"This must pain you a great deal, then," Thor said softly.

Saffron nodded and sighed. "Yes, it does. All of our lives we have lived apart: each knowing the other existed, but never actually knowing the other. We always thought there would be time..." she shuddered and blinked back a tear. "Our gifts were so strong, and so contrary, that our parents thought it best if we were raised apart, until we could control ourselves, and then get acquainted."

"Loki and I have very little in common, yet we were raised side by side. I wonder sometimes at the wisdom of our elders," Thor admitted. Saffron gave him a questioning look, and Thor sighed. "Loki's true parentage was kept from him, from all of us, for over a thousand years. His discovery of the truth was a shock."

Saffron nodded. "I imagine so. 'Tis a wonder he did not go mad."

"He almost did."

Saffron shuddered. "When Sciotha took Isis...and I heard...I was so angry! I wanted to burn down Jotunheim, searching for her, but my father gainsaid me. He knew by his arts that Isis was closeted somewhere on Midgard, but surrounded by powerful enchantments. I had to go in...how do the mortals say it...undercover...disguised as a mortal...to even get close to her. When I finally did..." she sighed, "I found myself bound by a guise of silence. I could speak to no one of what I knew: not my father, not my mother, not even Isis. Until she knew the truth, or at least a part of it, my lips were bound. I could not speak to her of her parents, or her powers, or especially her love with Loki, until she had discovered these things for herself."

"That must have been difficult," Thor prompted.

Saffron nodded. "Aye, it was, the hardest part being cloaking mine own flame." Thor gave her a questioning look, so she continued. "I normally burn a little, but a human or Jotun would notice such, and alert others to mine...oddity. I therefore had to keep my fire banked-buried but still hot-until such a time as it could be revealed."

"How long did you have together?" Thor asked gently.

"As mortals? Nearly four years. I was able to find out which university Isis was attending, and my father saw to it that I had the necessary paperwork to attend, so we could meet by 'accident'." She smiled at the memory. "Living as a mortal, four years seems like an eternity. We had quite a time of it, bonding as friends! We did all the things girls do..."

A scream interrupted their quiet talk, and woke Loki as well. The dark-haired god jumped immediately to his feet and ran into his bedchamber, to Isis' side.

Isis saw him as he entered the room, and screamed more as he approached. Her eyes were sick with fear, and she clawed at the bedclothes, trying vainly to escape the comforting hands of her mate. Loki reached for Isis, but she another scream left her lips, and she sobbed in panic. Loki backed away as Saffron ran into the room.

"Help her, please," he begged. "She fears me now, and..."

Saffron hushed him with a touch of her fingers on his lips. "Leave us, brother. Let us speak."

Loki nodded sadly and backed away even as Saffron approached Isis on the bed.

"Isis, dear one, do you know me? Do you remember me? It is I, Saffron," she soothed, even as a tear coursed down her cheek. "I came as soon as I could. I'm so sorry..."

"Keep him away," Isis sobbed. "Keep him away! He is one of them...the blue demons who tortured me! I know the truth! I saw! He means to hurt me again!" She looked down at her damaged flesh and started crying again. "Just keep him away!"

Saffron gently wrapped a sheet around her sister's still-bare form, trying to cover her up, and shushed her.

"No, Isis. You are safe here. This is home. No one here means you harm, least of all your life-mate and your love. He is Loki...don't you remember?" Saffron tried to smooth down her hair, but Isis continued to sob, and she shook her head.

"I know what he is now," she whispered. "I saw when Sciotha grabbed his arm. He is one of them, and they," she stuttered and began to sob, "they did awful things to me, Saff. You wouldn't want to know me, if you knew what they did. It hurt so bad...it was so cold...and he is one of them."

Saffron shook her head. "Half," she corrected, "Loki is only half Jotun, and not even all Jotuns are evil. Some of them are still good people. One of them gave life to someone who loves you more than life itself. He was ready to ransom his life," Saffron looked her friend in the eyes, "to save yours."

Isis looked at Saffron, shocked. "How...how do you know this? You're from Earth...like me..."

Before Saffron could answer, Thor's voice boomed from the doorway.

"It is alright, Lady Isis. Calm yourself," Thor soothed as he walked into the bedchamber. "You are among family and friends here!"

Isis clawed at the sheet again, agitated. "Who the hell are you," she snapped, "to tell me so?"

"I am Thor, son of Odin All-Father, and your brother-in-law through Loki, who is your mate. Your sister speaks the truth, for the fire-tongued never lie. You are truly safe, Loki is your mate, and he is only half Jotun," he declared.

Isis shook her head, confused. "What is this nonsense of which you speak? Sister? What sister? I have none...I am an only child...from Kansas...am I not?"

Isis turned to look at Saffron, her eyes questioning, but Saffron turned away, biting her lips.

Thor walked up to Saffron. Taking her hand, he pulled her away from the bed where Isis lay. "Now is the time, Lady Saffron. She has heard, but not seen the truth. You must show her."

Saffron nodded and stood up. Moving away from the bed, she bit her lip again and looked down at Isis. "I...I'm sorry Isis. I couldn't show you before now..." she tried to explain, but faltered.

"Show me what? Saff, what the hell is this guy talking about?" Isis searched her friend's face, but saw only sadness. "Show me what?"

Saffron took a deep breath. "Forgive me, please," she whispered, and looked down.

The flames began at her feet: slow blue ones, because she was sad, but as her heat grew and she gained more confidence, they grew brighter. Gradually they coursed up her body, blue and red and black, licking around her form like a gauze dress caught in a wind, black flames sweeping around her head where her hair had been. A quiet crackle filled her outstretched hand, and a fireball appeared, spinning merrily before evaporating with a small pffft.

"Oh, Saff," Isis' voice caught in her throat, and for a moment she forgot her pain and fear. "You are so beautiful! Why didn't you tell me before now?"

"I'm sorry," Saffron said, and her flames flickered blue with her chagrin. "I wanted to, when we first met, but I was bound by Sciotha's magic, and could not speak of this...of any of this. We are half-sisters, but were raised apart, and never met until we united on Midgard. My father..." She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. "Father, I need you!" she declared.

There was a brilliant flash of fire, and a man appeared: tall and dark-skinned as Saffron, but much older, with flashing eyes and a sharp, hawk-like nose. Saffron dropped to one knee with an arm across her chest in greeting.

"Father," she said respectfully.

He smiled and extended a hand to help her to her feet, so that she stood beside him. "Rise, my child," he said, and then turned to Isis, who still sat, stunned, on the bed. "Greetings, young Isis: daughter's sister! I am Ra': the Sun. The friend you call Saffron Star is my daughter with your mother: Diana of the Moon." Closing his eyes briefly Ra' raised his head and intoned: "My long-time love, come to me! Your children need you!"

A soft-white glow filled the room, as if the full moon had risen within Loki's chambers, and a beautiful woman with long, white hair appeared next to Ra'. Saffron, Thor, and Loki all dropped to one knew with an arm across their chests, and she smiled down at all of them.

"Merry we meet, my children," she said in a soft voice, but as her gaze leveled on Isis her soft voice broke. "Oh, my sweet girl, I have missed you so! Do you know me? I am Diana, your mother!"

Diana extended her hands to Isis, and Isis tried to extricate herself from the sheet wrapped around her, but could not. Movement was too painful, and the effort made her gasp and weep with pain. Diana's face contorted at Isis' condition, and she went to her, wrapping her arms around her in a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry," Isis sobbed, "so sorry! I can't remember any of you! I only know Saffron as a friend, and Asgard not at all...Loki I know from dreams, and Thor only from stories...Why don't I remember? Why was this done to me?"

Diana cradled Isis' broken form and wiped her tears, soothing her. "We must break the rest of the enchantments holding you, my child," she soothed, "and then you will be whole. We must find your amulet, even as Halstaryna has told you, and your life and powers will be restored."

Isis nodded, sniffling. "I know," she whispered. "When I am strong enough to travel, I will go back to Kansas-to Midgard-to retrieve it. I think I know where it might be found. I will not fail you this time."

Diana's face hardened, and the Huntress stiffened with anger. "Speak not like this, my child. You have never failed me. This...outrage...is neither your fault, nor your sister's, nor your mate's. The fault lies only with this dark sorcerer who took you for his own evil purposes."

"You will not go alone," Saffron volunteered. "I will go with you," she pledged.

"And I," swore Loki.

"And I," promised Thor.

"Yes," boomed Ra', as he placed a hand on Saffron's shoulder. "We shall all go! This Sciotha has tangled with the wrong family! By all the realms, let him deal with all of us now!"